Tag Archives: Bromley

Not too long ago I was called to the large town of Bromley, where my client was in the process of renovating an Edwardian house. The house has a fascinating original geometric Victorian tiled hallway which had previously been covered in carpet which my client now wanted restoring and extending.

Before beginning my work I had an initial consultation with the client and liaised with the builder. It was agreed that the existing floor joints would be strengthened and the current floorboards would be replaced with ply sheets, allowing for the area to be fitted with new Victorian tiles, ensuring that these were consistent with the original design.

Restoring a Victorian tiled hallway

The first task was to clean the original tiles so that they would blend in with the fresh, new tiles. To do this I mixed a solution of three parts Tile Doctor Pro-Clean (a high alkaline cleaner) to one part clean water, combined with a small quantity of NanoTech HBU. NanoTech HBU is a penetrating cleaner which uses nano-sized particles to reach areas other cleaners simply can’t in order to lift out difficult stains and ingrained dirt.

This solution was washed over the floor, and was left to dwell for five minutes. I then used my rotary machine with a black pad to agitate and work the solution into the dirty tiles. After completing this initial clean I used a wet-vac machine to hoover up the resulting residue.

There was also some glue residue around the edges of the floor from where carpet grippers had been placed years before. To remove this I used Tile Doctor Remove & Go, which breaks down adhesives, waxes and old sealers. I covered the treated area with plastic to prevent it from drying out, before leaving it to sit for a couple of hours. Once the product had begun to break down the glue I then agitated it with a scrubbing pad to remove the residue. The area was then cleaned with the Pro-Clean/NanoTech HBU solution.

Tiling with Victorian floor tiles

Once the old floor was clean I started laying down the new floor using a matching set of tiles I had managed to source. Victorian tile designs are still very popular so many of the original designs can still be found being made today.

Once the tiles had been stuck to the new hardboard I was able to give both floors a general clean with a weak dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to remove any dirt from tiling etc, this was followed by a rinse and the use of a wet vacuum to get the floor as dry as possible before sealing.

Sealing a Victorian tiled hallway

After leaving the house for more than 24 hours to allow the hallway to dry completely, I returned to seal the tiles. After inspecting the area to ensure no excess moisture remained, I applied five coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go, a water-based topical sealer, to both the old and new tiles.

This gave the entire hallway a nice sheen finish (as you can see from the photographs), as well as a robust surface seal to protect the tiles from dirt and wear in the future.

Once the sealing process had been completed, it was near impossible to distinguish between the old and new tiles and as you can imagine the customer was very pleased with the end result.

Reviews

Testimonials

Dear Jason, As I missed you, just wanted to say a big thanks for saving my floor! I can now sweep and wash it and it looks like its actually been done for the first time in 5 years. I will obviously be in once we have saved up and put the new kitchen in so we can do the other floor. Once again, many thanks.Mrs. D. Wilcox, Tenterden

The terracotta floor looks lovely.Mrs Bennett, Canterbury

The work carried out on my kitchen tiles was excellent. I was worried that the marks would not come out of the tiles but Jason did a really good job and I am very pleased with the results.Bal, Longfield

I found Mr Gates to be a desent hard working man, who is dedicated to offering a good friendly service. Mr Gates went out of his way to ensure that we were happy with his work. Top marksKenny, London, E16

Was impressed with Jason's work ethic and desire to complete the job to a high standard.Mr M. Howitt, London, SE15

To be honest, the end result was not as good as I was hoping for, although Jason did come round and do a test piece first showing us what the end result may look like. So overall disappointed not to have ended up with a shinier finish, but this was our decision to go ahead after seeing the test result.Mrs T Cannon, Bromley

Jason recently refurbished our terracotta kitchen floor and it has made such a difference - so easy to clean now and looks beautiful again. Jason worked extremely hard and we would definitely recommend his work.Ms A. Day, Gillingham

Many thanks Jason. You have done a brilliant job. Take Care Regards Connie.

Great Job! A totally professional job, done with great courtesy and minimal intrusion. And now a sparkling clean floor with advice on maintenance as well.V. Greenwood.

Speedy response and estimate. Excellent service and a very competitive price. Great end product.Mr. & Mrs Zoumot, London.

Absolutely delighted with the work Jason did in our bathroom after our tilers left us with a horrendous tile grout problem. Two acid solution treatments later we decided to use the tile doctor services. Jason has done a fantastic and thorough job. Would highly recommend his work. Thank you again, our tiles finally look like they were meant too.Ms. K. Holmes

Hi Jason, Thank you very much indeed for doing such a great job on Friday. The tiles look wonderful. Now we just need to decorate the rest of the house! With thanks and best wishes, Caroline.

Very happy & pleased, Bathroom looks like new. Would recommend Jason to another customer.Ms. S. Markham, Battersby, London